Seduced by the English language? Anglo-American public diplomacy and diffusion of English in Spain, 1959-75

Abstract

Since the early 1960’s, American and British diplomatic services have become interested in the problem of who would succeed Franco. The United States and Great Britain sought to influence a future regime change, which was to be moderate and favorable to their interests in Spain. But this required that both countries improve the image that Spanish public opinion held about their respective societies. To accomplish that goal, several public diplomacy initiatives were launched –the teaching of English had a leading role– that were designed to attract specific cultural sectors of Spanish society. This article analyzes the outreach of English teaching programs implemented by the governments of Washington and London, with support from philanthropic foundations and other private institutions during the last decades of Franco’s Spain. The purpose of these programs was to promote the modernization of Spanish socio-economic and educational structures; and, consequently, to foster a climate of cultural affinity with the middle classes and Spanish elites in the face of an eventual replacement of the Franco dictatorship for a democratic regime.